[Archived] Everton V Blackburn Preview

[Guest Kamy100]

Whatever the issue is with Benni, Sam its time you sorted it out because we need goals desperatly and he's the only one we've got.

Totally agree, he maybe a lazy git but he is the most natural (and one of the best in the league) goalscorers that we have. Sam needs to tell him that he is first choice and play him week in week out, if he does that I am sure that he will score 12-15 goals for us this season. Roberts works hard but needs to be dropped, I would give Kalanic a run in the team, we need to find out if he is good enough, he also needs to be told that he is going to get a run in the team (should help his confidence).

[modes98]

1- freekick within ten yards of our area (needlessly conceded) and Saha (THEIR ONLY FORWARD) goes unmarked and unmolested with a chum behind him equally untroubled for a near post tap in.

2- Saha (THEIR ONLY FORWARD) rises above Diouf from the edge of the six yard box and within the width of the goals to plant the header. No other Everton player anywhere near.

To concede one rank bad goal is bad enough, but three of them!!!

1. I would think the problem is Givet and Samba are being taken up by Cahill and Screech, being as they are bigger threats in the air. Having said that to just let him stand there free is criminal by Salgado.

2. You have explained the problem. Diouf was marking him.

It is what we have been doing all season. We used to do it a while back, play quite well and then make 1 mistake and lose points. We need to cut out the mistakes and quickly.

[alexanders]

Early days - a lot of you are too negative, but a couple of comments from me about the game:

- Why is Grella marking Cahill, when we know Cahill is very dangerous in the air and Grella is very small?

- What the **** was Salgado doing? Looks a little bit fowleresque. Looked very far from being matchfit.

- Roberts is not they way forward. He is my scapegoat and it is embarassing playing him alone up front.

Everton did a very good job and our right hand side (especially Salgado) struggled very much with Pienaar and Baines.

We were also dire at freekicks and corners and the first goals was Salgado's fault. Didnt mark his man.

We shouldnt forget though that we had one in the crossbar before that and we actually had a very very good chance before everton went up 2-0.

[yellowsubmarine]

Watched the game on television yesterday. To be honest, Everton showed their intent from the first minute. We were never in the game at all throughout, only patches of attacking play here and there, but that was it.

8 - Robinson - Brilliant showing from him today. Shame the defence cant match his performance

7 - Samba - The only defender trying to keep the Everton attack out. but king kong cant do it all by himself.

5 - Salgado - Conceded the free kick which Saha scored from. If Givet wasn't injured, he probably will have be gone at HT.

6 - Givet - Average game. Not sure how serious was his injury.

5.5 - Chimbonda - Never comfortable at LB at all. Skinned by Osman a few times.

6 - Andrews - Mr Invisible for first 45. Had a shot on goal which he should've buried it. A goal line clearance from him with Robinson well beaten.

5 - Grella - No pace at all. Didnt even break up Everton play. Pienaar will probably score a couple if not for Robinson. 4million. OMG!

5.5 - Pedersen - A good left wing cross and that was it. Free kicks - failed. Throws in - failed.

7 - Diouf - Hit the crossbar when we were 1-0 down. Had a powerful shot palmed away in the 2nd half. Did okay.

7.5 - Dunn - Continued where he left off in previous games. Trying his best to create chances after chances.

6 -Robert - Tough on him as a lone striker. Distin had him in his pockets all day. His shot in the dying minutes was a joke.

6 - Nelsen - At fault for Yobo's goal. Tried to clear the ball, but hit his arm and fell nicely for Yobo. Lack communication with the rest.

7 - Hoilett - Did well when he came on. Very confident. Created his own chances. A bright spark. Even commentator mentioned he's one for the future.

6 - Kalinic - Huffed and puffed his way. Not sure why he wasn't brought on last week when we were 3-0 up.

[Kelbo]

Early days - a lot of you are too negative, but a couple of comments from me about the game:

- Why is Grella marking Cahill, when we know Cahill is very dangerous in the air and Grella is very small?

- What the **** was Salgado doing? Looks a little bit fowleresque. Looked very far from being matchfit.

- Roberts is not they way forward. He is my scapegoat and it is embarassing playing him alone up front.

Everton did a very good job and our right hand side (especially Salgado) struggled very much with Pienaar and Baines.

We were also dire at freekicks and corners and the first goals was Salgado's fault. Didnt mark his man.

We shouldnt forget though that we had one in the crossbar before that and we actually had a very very good chance before everton went up 2-0.

First goal I thought Salgado was in a two man Wall???

[Big Fat Sam]

Totally agree, he maybe a lazy git but he is the most natural (and one of the best in the league) goalscorers that we have. Sam needs to tell him that he is first choice and play him week in week out, if he does that I am sure that he will score 12-15 goals for us this season. Roberts works hard but needs to be dropped, I would give Kalanic a run in the team, we need to find out if he is good enough, he also needs to be told that he is going to get a run in the team (should help his confidence).

Don't get me wrong I do feel benni lets himself down, but give him one of the chances we had on Saturday before their two goals in the second half and it would have been 1 - 1. I completely agree on Kalinic (retrospectivily) 1 and half games and he's on the bench, the whole of the country was on his case and he gets dropped which for me re-affirms what was being said nationally. I would have played him still especially for wolves/west ham one goal and its a different story. Instead we enter five seriously hard games with no-one scoring or high on confidence up front.

Surely if we're going to play one up top Kalinic is the one who has the attributes to do it, we've played some of the teams we where all hoping to take points off those where games he should off had a better chance of scoring in. Hopefully he plays at Forest and gets a couple.

For me its time to change back to the 442 of the first two games, play Holliet on the right, Diouf on the left and stick Kali and Benni up front, with Di Santo or Roberts off the bench. But what do you do with Dunn??? Bring back N'zonzi with Emo/reid alongside him swapping one for the other as they flag.

We need a good result against Forest, a win by at least 3 goals and a clean sheet would help, so we can enter this tricky patch with some confidence and form.

[Hughesy]

First goal I thought Salgado was in a two man Wall???

1st goal Salgado was stood next to Saha - he went to sleep when the cross came in and when he looked back Saha just clipped it in.

Yesterday showed that Salgado is not fit enough yet to have an impact. Jacobsen back for the visit of Ashley Young please.

[roversfan1]

Just my 2 penneth....Over reliant on set peices, cannot keep the ball, no goal threat at all (until Junior came on) and if that is the case then you are going to give your defence and keeper a busy afternoon which is what we did! Very disappointed as I saw Everton against Fulham last week and they were ordinary and fairly one dimensional without Arteta but we made them look anything but yesterday.

My mate works for the Echo in Liverpool and the general consensus amongst their hacks were that we are as bad as AEK who they battered on Thursday and if anyone saw the game you would know what an insult that is!

Now onto Forest and then Villa and whilst I remain optimistic and will be there cheering Rovers on Sam needs to make a few changes to that side and not rely so much on long throws and corners (though a lesson in how to defend them may be useful)!!

[Hughesy]

Just my 2 penneth....Over reliant on set peices, cannot keep the ball, no goal threat at all (until Junior came on) and if that is the case then you are going to give your defence and keeper a busy afternoon which is what we did!

Take it you didnt watch the game? Hit the bar, Howard mate several good saves also - 1 from Diouf to start with.

[Big Fat Sam]

Does anyone know the extent of Givets injury??

[alexanders]

Roberts needs to be dropped.

[roversfan1]

Take it you didnt watch the game? Hit the bar, Howard mate several good saves also - 1 from Diouf to start with.

Yep watched it and stick by what I said, over a period of 90 minutes we created very little and werent much of a threat to the Everton goal. We did indeed hit the bar and Howard made a couple of saves but in the second half when I thought we may try to put them under pressure we were very lackluster. Their Centre backs / defence had an easy game and as long as they were able to deal with the long throws and corners then we didnt offer much else...

[LeftWinger]

Take it you didnt watch the game? Hit the bar, Howard mate several good saves also - 1 from Diouf to start with.

I'm sure you're Sam Allardyce. I consider myself a positive supporter usually - but you always manage to find something good in even the worst performances to defend the team.

[cn174]

Take it you didnt watch the game? Hit the bar, Howard mate several good saves also - 1 from Diouf to start with.

You called the two/three chances we had yesterday a good goal threat?! Villa must be quaking in their boots!

[Hughesy]

I give up.........

[roversfan1]

I give up.........

Im not slating Sam or the team or writing the season off yet - but you cant disguise a bad performance and I recognise that yesterday was one of those and a big improvement is needed for the rest of this season otherwise we are really going to struggle!

Ill be there Sat supporting and cheering Rovers on still

[47er]

What a waste of a day--------unless you enjoy singing about Burnley, calling Everton fans ths "###### of Merseyside", getting drunk and abusing stewards. Some of our fans are the scum of the earth.

As for the football we all seem to agree. Salgado---------is he unfit or finished?

Worst game for Pedersen in yonks----Hoilett must start. N'Zonzi and Dunn in the middle for me with 2 strikers up-front----not Roberts. Can't blame Roberts entirely,when it bounces off his knee, there's no-one beside him to take advantage and the defence gobbles him up. However we all know he isn't good enough.

The problem is----------where's Di Santo and can Kalinic do anything? I know he's only made late appearences but I've yet to see him do anything to convince me he's a Premiership player.

With a Tough October coming up things are looking decidedly tricky and the usual excuses won't do.

[thenodrog]

Putting on my blue tinted specs in an attempt to keep this in context. This season and until Thurs Everton have been very poor and were in the bottom 3. Last week we easily beat a very poor Wolves side, this week we were very poor and easily beaten whilst Wolves got 3 points against a very poor Fulham side.

That'll be four sets of fans with a roller coaster existence. I guess it's just the trials and tribulations of being a football supporter of a small club isn't it?

[CrazyIvan]

Putting on my blue tinted specs in an attempt to keep this in context. This season and until Thurs Everton have been very poor and were in the bottom 3. Last week we easily beat a very poor Wolves side, this week we were very poor and easily beaten whilst Wolves got 3 points against a very poor Fulham side.

That'll be four sets of fans with a roller coaster existence. I guess it's just the trials and tribulations of being a football supporter of a small club isn't it?

To be fair Gordon, I think you've nailed it. We are way too inconsistent at the moment though and Sam is obviously looking to shake it up and boot a few up the backside. Let's hope we can conjure up a damn good midweek game and a better one at the weekend against a fairly formidable Villa side.

[AggyBlue]

Surely if we're going to play one up top Kalinic is the one who has the attributes to do it,

What attributes do you see in him?

[DP]

Kalanic needs minutes on the pitch simple. We've seen a few players come and go this summer, and yet this looks like the same Rovers team that scrapped their way to safety at the end of last season. Has Sam been afraid to try something new? Play a more passing and fluid game perhaps? When we've gone to Goodison in the past the games we've one have been the ones where we've passed the ball around.

If Sam's intention is to play a pure percentage game, winning the 50/50s and scoring from set pieces then the Rovers fans are in for a long and painful season. He must also view yesterday's result as a disaster as well bearing in mind where the goals conceded came from.

Some peope don't believe we have the quality to play a more positve passing game. Well I'm not sure we do either but we certainly don't have the right players to play the current system in an effective manner.

[LeftWinger]

What attributes do you see in him?

He's not Roberts

[rebelmswar]

He's not Roberts

That about is the only thing for now. Our new boy was bouncing off defenders so much yesterday that it looked like a pinball table.

[laughatthedingles]

Ok, I went yesterday and have left it until today to post my opinions as I felt I needed that not to be too knee jerky as it was THAT bad.

Robinson - Back to the Robbo of late last season, had a mare against west ham for me, too many times he came and didn't collect but no sign of that yesterday. However I think he overcompensated on a few occasions and stayed at home when he could and should have come and collected.

Salgado - Too early allardyce said, ok then, you have Nelsen on the bench and a right back at left back. Whilst I am of the opinion that Givet and Samba are our best partnership, if it was too early for Salgado, and anyone who went to the Res' would have seen that as obvious then Chimbonda should have been at right back, Nelsen and Samba in the middle, Givet at left back. However they weren't, not blaming Salgado but he was poor, positionally awful and whether he has the pace for the premier league I really don't know.

Chimbonda - looked steady, didn't have a great deal to do as Everton quickly exposed Salgado as the weak link and attacked that side. What he did was ok, got forward on occasions but is surely too right footed to play left back for any great period.

Samba/Givet - Did ok but didn't really have anyone up against them, Saha was constantly pulling onto Salgado and Cahill played in a similar position to Dunn. My big question here is surely they had worked on defending this formation and therefore should have sorted who was tracking Cahill in the gaps he found - midfield or defence. One of them should also have took charge to pick up Saha and not left the clearly struggling Salgado further in the Mire.

Nelsen - Similar to above, however maybe just a coincidence but Everton looked far more dangerous and found far more room when he was on rather than when Givet was there.

Diouf - Showed a few little signs of creating something, worked hard as always but needs to concentrate more on what he is doing for the team than picking on cocky scouse ballboys.

Andrews - Before I start I am not an Andrews hater and don't get me wrong he wasn't the worst player on the park, but he offered nothing. Defensively he didn't shield us and offered nothing going forward, he was merely filling up space in the middle, if Emerton, Reid or N'zonzi where fit enough this was a poor selection.

Grella - This boy is my biggest gripe, I challenge anyone who says he is good enough for the premier league. Grella is simply too slow. Give him the ball to his feet and some room and he can pick a half decent pass - can't most lower league players? He consistently tries to track both centre midfielders as they pass the ball accross the park, as his acceleration is extremely poor he fails to make either, consequently leaving a big gap. His passing, which is so reveared on here I tried to look at closely, however time and time again he played aimless balls up towards the Everton defence, he also seems to be a fan of playing the switch ball lofted across the park to our winger furtherst away from him, nice ball when played correctly, someone needs to tell Vince that is not when your winger is stood next to or very close to the full back as this results in one thing, a 50-50 ball at waist/chest height with the full back having a run up to, thus lost position time and time again. A poor player who needs replacing.

Pedersen - looked ok in the first half but faded quickly in the second, the biggest confidence player I have ever seen. A couple of cracking crosses in the first fifteen minutes and he'll have an amazing game, however, if we are behind and/or he's not in the game too much his ability drains from him and he ends up going missing.

Dunn - Looked like he'd played too many games in too short a period. Why he was kept on at 3-0 down only Big Sam will know, injury was the only thing likely to occur from that.

Roberts - Not an easy job up front on his own, granted. However he is not the target man people seem to think, so often he doesn't hold the ball up but instead favours a jostle with the centre half, 99.9% of the time resulting in losing posession whilst he waves his arms about looking amazed that he hasn't won a free kick. Not good enough in 4-4-2, no where near good enough in 4-4-1-1.

Hoilett - Looked bright and tried hard, was only one of a few that continued this at 3-0 down. Worth a start for me.

Kalinic - At 3-0 down Sam finally looked to gamble, an attempt to apease the fans maybe? Worked hard but was never likely to improve his confidence getting an appearance at that stage in that team was it?

[speeeeeeedie]

This was the first full game I've seen this season and it was absolutely abysmal. If other games have been this way I understand the concerns. I don't know how Rovers can justify people spending money to watch that tripe. Our centre forward didn't have 1 shot. Hopefully it's a blip and we'll get a settled side together and start winning a few, sooner rather than later.